in which jun meets ezio and learns things

time is a big ball of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey, stuff. just a big mess overall guys


Jun lost her Mentor in Venice. The last she saw of him was when he pushed her into a bordello, asking the courtesans in stilted Italian to hide her while he led the Tigers away. Jun didn't know why the women hid her without question, but thought it might be because of her robes.

They had the red sash, the insignia, and the hood of the Assassins. So even though her robes were dark and the style different, the courtesans knew to keep her safe.

Her Mentor didn't come back, and Jun knew that he was dead. She stayed with the courtesans for several days afterwards, remaining hidden, and mourning the death of the man she considered a father. Despite her grief, she helped where she was able, often doing small repairs within the building, and keeping an eye on the men that frequented the house.

She also, of course, helped train the women. They were self sufficient of course, their madame knew what she was doing. But there was a difference in what they could do, and what an Assassin could do. Jun did what she could.

"You are a good teacher, June," one of the courtesans said. The name was a compromise. It sounded similar enough to her name, but had the Italian twist that made it entirely unlike her name at all. Those that spoke of her outside the bordello walls would give no implication to her true origin.

"I try," Jun replied softly. She kept her accent, though her Italian was native, considering Ezio shared it with her. The accent also hid how she spoke Italian like a Florentine, because that would be incredibly awkward to explain otherwise.

"You will do good, when you find what you are looking for," the other woman said, and pressed a hand to Jun's arm. "Thank you for what you have done here, even if we were not an intended stop on your way forward."

Jun managed to smile at her. The women here were wonderful. And they looked to Jun and saw what she was. An Assassin, yes, but also a concubine. The manner in which they were treated was different, but they were the same still. These were here sisters, like the girls she had left behind at home, and had been unable to save. And, like her, they took what would be considered a shackle and used it to live as they saw fit.

"Thank you," Jun said instead. The woman smiled at her, and the expression told Jun that she was understood.

With that, they helped Jun pack for her continuing trip. Jun knew where she was going, and it would take a couple of weeks. The Tigers would still be looking for her, and changing out of her robes into something else would help hide her. She still kept them, of course, along all of her weapons. But the courtesans knew how to dress her so that she was still foreign, but not in the same manner that Jun truly was.

Ah, but Jun had to spend more time with the prostitutes on her way back. There was much to be learned in their halls.

Jun thought her travels would be lonely, if not for her other selves. They were with her, always, and mourned her Mentor's death the same way she did. They kept her company, and kept her own determination firm, even as she travelled further than anything she had ever known.

"I'm waiting for you," Ezio said as they got closer to where Jun felt he would be.

"Keep going," Altair said grimly as he kept his Eagle Vision activated. His second sight was still the strongest and most nuanced. Matched with Jun, who had area awareness, and they kept safe and unnoticed.

"Yes," Jun agreed, and kept going.

She spent her nineteenth birthday traveling. Jun found some ruins on the side of the road, settled in as safely as she could, and spent the day with her other selves. It was fun, and though they all kept an eye on her surroundings, Jun was treated to a world-wide, centuries-spanning birthday celebration.

After eleven years of knowing each other, they knew what worked and what didn't work for all of them. And right now, Jun needed something to distract her from being hunted.

Eventually, Jun crested a hill and found herself in front of a vineyard. And just beyond it, a villa, done up in stone and wood. It was isolated on its hill, but it was out of the way of most things. A building that had a good vantage point for defense, but of no important consequence in the larger scheme of things.

The perfect place for an Assassin, retired as they might be from leading the Order.

Jun moved forward, her gut twisting in apprehension and excitement. Still, she was aware that Ezio was in his sixties now, and likely stayed with his family. That was what the information she gathered before arriving implied. He would be wary and protective, like any of them would be, and who knew what sort of traps he would have set up to keep his family safe?

Jun went to the edge of the vineyard, intending to call for Ezio. She did not want to step beyond that boundary, aware that Ezio would immediately sense her presence. Her other selves all slipped away from her side.

Ezio, her Ezio, was with her, but there was an Ezio here that would have his own Jun. To be safe, to be cautious, they all felt it would be best for them to refrain from being there physically. From visiting. Instead, they nestled in the back of Jun's mind, watchful but slightly separate.

She didn't find Ezio, first. No, Jun found a young girl instead. She wore a red dress with golden stitching of the fleur de lis, and even at this distance Jun could see how fine the cloth and the make was. Her hair was deep brown and pulled half back, and she wore a flower crown.

"Oh," Jun breathed when the girl looked at her, eyes flashing golden briefly.

Considering her age, she likely didn't even realize that she had used her second sight. Still, that brief use was enough for the young girl to walk up to her fearlessly, holding flowers leftover from making her flower crown.

As she got closer, Jun noticed the familiar features of Ezio. The shape of her eyes, even though they weren't blue. The shape of her nose, and her lips. The line of her jaw, even as it was soft and round with childish fat.

"Hello," the child said, smiling up at her. She held out a flower to Jun. "I'm Flavia."

Jun took the flower, and tucked it underneath her hood and behind her ear. It was mostly hidden, but Flavia still looked pleased. So fearless, this child. They were isolated on this hill, and the vineyard made good hiding spots, even under the midday sun. Jun could count several places where she could cause harm to a person in their immediate vicinity without being noticed. And Flavia was fearless.

"Hello," Jun greeted, voice soft and wondrous as she looked down at Ezio's daughter. They knew that they'd all find people to marry and have families of their own, but that seemed like a future worry. To meet such concrete evidence was almost overwhelming. "My name is Jun. It is nice to meet you, Flavia."

"Jun?" Flavia repeated. Her eyes lit up, and Flavia reached forward to grab her hand. "Auntie Jun! Papa said you'd visit, one day!"

"Oh," Jun said, momentarily thrown. She should have known that Ezio wouldn't hide them from his family. He was never shy about it around his siblings, of course he'd never hide it from his children. "Yes, he did," Jun agreed.

'I'm waiting for you,' Ezio had said. Yes, and it seemed he had been waiting for decades to meet her in person. Even with Jun in his head, that was a long time to wait.

Flavia beamed up at her, and continued to hold her hand as she started tugging Jun around the perimeter of the vineyard. "Papa also said that you'd look different than what he painted when you arrived. I can tell! You're not as old. But you're just as pretty as Papa always said you were!"

"Thank you," Jun said amusedly, and allowed herself to be tugged around. Strangely, Flavia didn't take her within the vineyard just yet. "You look like your father."

"I do?" Flavia asked, blinking curiously up at Jun. "Most everyone says that I look like Mama."

"You do look like your mother," Jun agreed. The shape of her brows, the curve of her cheek, the fullness of her hair. They must be similar to the unknown mother. "But you also look like Ezio. When he was my age."

"Oh!" Flavia said, and smiled broadly. "There's not many people around from when Papa was younger. Though Marcello has the same eyes as Papa, he looks more like Mama. At least I think so. Or even Federica, but she's not around as often."

'Federica?' Jun thought. If Flavia spoke of her like family, then perhaps it was a daughter named after Federico. Probably not a sister, though. Maybe Claudia or Petruccio's child, then? Jun couldn't see Federico naming a child after himself.

Flavia continued in that manner as she led Jun around the edge of the vineyard. She talked a lot and happily, about everything and nothing at all. It painted a picture of a life Jun was so, so glad to see; Flavia was a happy child with a happy life, and didn't want for anything.

However, Jun didn't let that distract her. She kept using her Eagle Vision, straining her awareness as far and as strongly as she could. It wasn't just her life on the line. There was a child here, one important to her, and Jun would watch the world burn before she let any of her family be hurt on her watch. She had failed before. Never again.

It was her second sight that warned her that she had strayed into the sight of another. That new presence was blue to her, safe, and Jun allowed herself to remain seen. She had an idea of who it was, but for some reason she felt shy.

"Jun?" a soft voice asked, voice breathless and hoarse with age. Still, Jun would recognize that voice anywhere.

She turned, and made eye contact with Ezio. She stopped breathing for a moment as she took in his appearance.

His hair is short, Jun thought, and the first thing she noticed. Cut close to his ears like Desmond and Altair, even if it was flatter than either of their curly mess. Then she recognized that it was gunmetal gray, the temples near white. His face was lined with wrinkles, from smiling and frowning both. His eyes, though, were the same.

Jun's heart reached for him- and it was then that she noticed that she couldn't feel her other selves. They were there, distant, in the back of her mind, but she couldn't feel them. Jun spared a second of pure panic at the sensation before she knew that it wasn't because she couldn't speak with them anymore, but because Ezio was there in front of her.

Jun could feel him, but it was distant and muffled. She poked that feeling, and startled slightly when she felt Ezio poke her right back. It took a second of thought but- ah, yes. They couldn't feel each other that way because they were so intimately connected with their own age group.

But this was still Ezio, and she knew that. She could feel it, in her heart. So Jun smiled lightly at Flavia, who looked confused, and walked up to Ezio. And, almost without meaning to, she reached up and pinched his cheeks. His skin was soft and aged, completely different yet entirely the same as with her Ezio.

"You're old, Ezio," Jun said, smiling. Her eyes ached. Tears, probably. She did not mind at all, because she was meeting one of her other selves.

Ezio barked out a laugh, his own eyes wetting. Then he pulled her into a tight hug, and the pair clung to each other with all the feelings that they never had to say to each other. The hold was different than what she was used to, arms weaker with age, but they held strength in them that Jun knew would never leave.

"It's you," Ezio said when they managed to pull apart. He still held her hands in his own, and Jun didn't care to pull them away. He grinned at her, the expression as boyish and charming as it always was. "I've been waiting for years, Jun. You're late."

"Traveling from China to here takes some time, Ezio. Though I did not expect you to age so terribly in the meantime, either," Jun said, teasing in return.

A lie, and they both knew it. Ezio was a charming young man, and it turned out that he was a charming old man, too. He better be, or Jun and the others would be disappointed in his wife's decision making skills. Elise for certain would sabotage that relationship herself to protect their shared dignity.

"Papa?" Flavia asked, looking up at them both curiously.

"You've already met Jun, have you?" Ezio asked Flavia, still smiling. He looked to Jun. "Come on, then. It's harvest time, and if you're here, I may as well put you to work."

"I'm free labor, am I?" Jun asked.

"Of course. What else are you good for?" Ezio replied easily. He picked up the basket and placed it in Jun's arms. "Flavia, would you go grab another basket?"

Flavia hesitated, but nodded. "I'll be right back!" she said, and ran off.

Ezio and Jun both watched her fondly. "She's a good child," Jun said.

"She is," Ezio agreed. "Flavia is my eldest, and she takes after her mother in temperment."

"Who is this woman, then?" Jun asked, and followed Ezio to the edge of the row.

"My darling Sofia," Ezio said, voice and expression so very, very soft, and very, very fond. Jun's heart ached hearing it, and she knew she would not stop feeling that ache until her Ezio found this Sofia.

"She must be a saint, to put up with you," Jun teased lightly.

"That's what everyone said, yes," Ezio said cheerfully, and he started harvesting the grapes. "But she did agree to marry me."

"Where is she?"

"She is with Marcello in the city, visiting Claudia," Ezio said. "You will have to meet everyone while you are here. The novices especially will be glad to meet you."

"I'll do that, then," Jun said. She looked forward to meeting Claudia in person, though she wondered what the novices knew of her. Ezio was more free with the knowledge of their existence, so she imagined he wouldn't hide it from those he taught.

Still, she would do her best to train them. Ezio was skilled, and strong, despite his age. That much was obvious. But age changed everyone, and it was likely that Jun could help, even with the decades of difference in experience between the two of them now.

"Ah-" Jun said, as a thought occurred to her. "Do the children know of Assassins?"

For the first time since they met in person, Ezio frowned. "No, and I would ask that you do not tell them."

"That will be dangerous, Ezio," Jun said softly, worriedly. "You are well known in this time as the Mentor, and for all that you have done. You are hidden, here, by your anonymity and by the efforts of the guilds in Italy. But determined enemies will find you regardless."

"I know," Ezio sighed heavily, "And we have set training up for them, in the future. But it is something that I do not wish upon them."

"We never do," Jun said. She herself witnessed the deaths of her sisters in arms before she found salvation in the Assassins.

Before they could continue, Flavia returned, panting heavily from the running. She had an extra basket, which she held proudly. "Papa! Auntie Jun! I brought a basket!"

"Yes, thank you, Flavia," Ezio said, taking it from Flavia. "Why don't you help us? At least until your mother and brother return."

Flavia made a face at being asked to work, but nodded. "Okay."

"She is adorable, and stubborn, and you will feel everything we felt growing up with you," Jun told Ezio in Mandarin.

"She already does!" Ezio said in the same language, cheerful and unrepentant. "Oh, and you haven't even gotten to literally everything else we've done yet."

"I look forward to it," Jun said dryly.

"Papa!" Flavia whined, "You promised you wouldn't speak another language around me!"

"I did, I did," Ezio agreed, switching back to Italian. "Sorry! Jun didn't know about my promise, though."

"Don't blame me for not keeping your promises," Jun said.

Flavia giggled, irritation forgotten immediately. Ezio made an exaggerated face at Jun, but Jun knew better. So did Flavia.

Together, with Flavia and Ezio, the day passed quickly. It took several hours, and Jun was hot underneath the sun, but it was worth it. Being with another self was worth it all. Like this, she could even momentarily forget that she was being hunted, and the loss of her Mentor.

Sofia and Marcello eventually returned, and they both looked surprised at Jun's appearance. Marcello really did look like his mother, though the way he held himself reminded her more of Petruccio. And he, like Flavia, was just as excited to meet Jun.

"I am very glad to meet you," Sofia said. She smiled at Jun, "Though I did not expect you to be so young. Ezio explained that despite the time differences, you grew up at the same time instead of separate."

"That is how it works," Jun said, nodding her head in respect to this gentlewoman, and the core of steel she carried within. "I did not expect Ezio to be this age, either. He is an old man with short hair that he would be ashamed of when he was younger."

Ezio made a pained face at her from where he was sitting.

Sofia laughed. "You sound exactly as you do when you speak through Ezio!"

"I hope my voice doesn't sound like his," Jun said, "Because I am a Master Singer, and there are some atrocities I will not accept. Not even for one of my other selves."

"You still do not accept it, I promise," Sofia said, eyes alight with amusement. "Ezio has learned some control under your tutelage, but it is only enough to sing a lullaby."

"That is better than what he can do now," Jun said, pressing a hand to her chest in exaggerated motion. Oh, but she liked Sofia even from this brief interaction.

Sofia nodded, then turned serious. Her brow furrowed, and though she was not angry, she looked at Jun. "I'm sorry, I truly am glad to meet you. But you are not here just to visit."

Jun blinked at the sudden change in conversation, but nodded. "Yes. I am here to speak with the Mentor of the Italian Brotherhood. The one who rebuilt his Order from the ground up."

"Ezio is retired," Sofia said softly, but her eyes were sharp. And it was not a declination.

"He is," Jun agreed, "And for a family, which we will not hold against him. Have not held against him. But there are decades between us, and I need the help for my own Order."

"I have known this conversation was coming already," Ezio said, and held Sofia's hand in his own. "And I have spent years and years thinking about what Jun could have asked me, would need my help for. I remember helping her, but it was my words and this conversation that paved the path."

"It's a bit daunting on both sides," Jun said. "I, who have questions for a version of myself that is decades older. And Ezio, who has had the expectation of answering placed upon him."

Sofia looked between them and nodded in understanding. "For all that you act like nothing has changed, and you truly are meeting someone you've known your entire life, this meeting is incredibly odd to the both of you, isn't it?"

Jun and Ezio shared a glance. Even with the muted separation between the pair of them, they still had a connection that no one else they've ever met had. For all that Ezio had obviously explained to his family, there was only so much that they could convey properly.

"You have no idea, my love," Ezio said ruefully. "It is… well, I don't want to say awkward, but it is incredibly awkward."

"Well," Sofia said, a drawn out and thoughtful sound. She clapped her hands after a moment. "It is late, and I know for a fact that my husband is free tomorrow. Why don't we all go to bed, and you can have your conversation later?"

"That does sound best," Ezio agreed, "I am old, and I tire easily. Especially when keeping Flavia entertained and from causing mischief."

"That is your fault. She takes after you," Jun said.

"Not entirely, I promise," Sofia denied, amused. "Now, come on, dear. Jun, we have a guest room that you can use. I'm sure that you are also tired from traveling."

"Thank you," Jun said.

The next day, Ezio led Jun into town, taking her on a tour of Firenze. It was different, and odd. A look forward in time compared to looking backwards. The buildings were mostly the same, the layout familiar, but things had a new polish to them that Jun was unfamiliar with.

"My hometown. Ah, how I love you, and how much has both changed and yet stayed the same," Ezio said, looking around. "I did not care to notice the changes recently, but having you here reminds me of what it looked like when I was younger."

"It is odd, to see how it will look like," Jun said, "It's like nostalgia, but for the future."

"You should have seen Altair's reaction when I went to Masyaf," Ezio said, laughing lightly.

"You went to Masyaf?" Jun asked.

"Yes," Ezio said, "And it was an adventure to Masyaf, and to Constantinople that I met Sofia."

"I look forward to it, then," Jun said. "That reminds me, we must find a way to get Desmond to Masyaf in his time." The changes were sure to be extensive after a near millennium.

"I think it will look even more different than it already does," Ezio said after a brief pause. "Or you could send Evie. She travels in that direction, when she finds her own love."

"Something else to look forward to, then," Jun said, wondering at another piece of this future they would walk into. Jun and Ezio walked in comfortable silence for a few minutes, as Ezio went about doing chores that Sofia had assigned to them. "Is it difficult, trying to find what to tell me that won't ruin our future?"

Ezio looked to her, and smiled wryly. "Yes. I knew some of what happened, of course. But what you tell us happened decades ago for me, and much has happened in the meantime. So the specifics are off, especially since I am also somewhat disconnected from my other selves."

"Especially Evie?" Jun asked. Evie had the best memory for this sort of thing, after all.

"Especially Evie," Ezio agreed. "But- ah, here we are." Ezio led them to a bench, where he sat down gracefully and with a relieved sigh.

Jun looked around- it was the Palazzo della Signoria. It was used as an execution space during her time. Now it looked like a plaza with celebrations and dancing. What a change, and a welcome one as well.

"You had questions about the Order, and what we did to rebuild it," Ezio said, looking at the plaza. "There is much you know, as you learned collectively. But there is much you will learn, that we learned, since we were young."

"Yes," Jun said softly. Ezio looked over the Palazzo with such an odd look in his eye. What happened here? What will happen here, for her Ezio?

"Here is where half of my family was killed," Ezio said into the silence. "I was only a teenager, then. Younger than you. Ah, but you remember this of course. It was only a couple of years ago to you now."

Jun went still, glad for her hood to hide the widening of her eyes, and that Ezio's attention was still on the plaza. What? That is most certainly not what happened. Yes, the Auditore were framed, but they had freed them. Unearthed the traitors in their midst.

If Ezio had just said that his family was killed, she would be heartbroken, and prepare for that future, and try to advert it. But to say that his family was hanged, here, when they were seventeen-

Time. They were of different times. Things cannot exist in the same time without influencing the other. The past altered the future, but the future also affected the past. There were theories and theories about time travel. Desmond looked at them all, because the eight of them spanned centuries, and there was so much that they could do to affect each other.

Jun inclined her head to show Ezio that she was paying attention. That was a difference, but much of what they said already proved that they were not different. This was still Ezio, and he was still another self. The connection they still shared proved that, regardless of the divergence.

"...I am glad that we are slightly separated," Jun admitted. Because if her Ezio truly did lose his family here, then she would not want to bring him her so soon after. She didn't want her Ezio to hear this, either.

"No, I wouldn't want to be here so soon," Ezio said. He looked to her with decades long pain in his eyes. "There is much to say, about the Order, and how I rebuilt it. I think, to make it easier, I will talk to you as if you are not another self. If only to keep my own thoughts in order about it."

"To treat me as if I were an Assassin that came here for help," Jun mused. Likely, her Mentor would be treated as such, if he had made it here with her. She nodded, "Yes, that would help, I think. For both of us."

"Come on, then," Ezio said, standing and holding out a hand to her. "There is much to do, and we can talk while we move."

"Free labor, I am," Jun sighed exaggeratedly.

"Of course," Ezio agreed.

Jun followed Ezio, thoughts racing. Her hand rose to her chest and her jade medallion, almost unconsciously. Much to learn from Ezio Auditore da Firenze indeed.

She wished her Mentor was here.

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